SC orders 3 months stay on Centre’s cattle slaughter ban

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today ordered three months stay on Centre’s rules banning the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter following the Madras High Court’s similar action in May.

These orders staying the new ‘no slaughter’ regulations give some official pardon to butchers’ business across the country. Meat suppliers had already planned to appeal the Supreme Court about the huge setback to their businesses with the new Central rules.

The SC forced the Centre to undertake before it that it would not implement these rules, which the Madras high court put on hold on May 30.

A week later, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court stayed this ‘slaughter ban’ for four weeks and asked the Union environment ministry and the Tamil Nadu government to respond to a petition filed by a Madurai-based activist-lawyer and vegetarian S Selvagomathy.

The Centre yesterday, arguing against the ‘stay’, went on to say that since the Madurai bench of the Madras high court stayed the new rules they were unlikely to be implemented immediately. It added that the government is listening to various organisations that are against these new rules and that it plans to bring changes in the rules by August end.